Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.

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Allow me to be your guide... and discover the history of Oxford with an Oxford historian.

I offer a wide range of guided walks around the city and university. These can be a general introduction to the history and architecture or looking at specific themes and subjects.

I am a Catholic and a historian based in Oxford, where I am a member of Oriel College. My research, for a long delayed D.Phil., is a study of Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln in the second decade of the fifteenth century. I also work as a freelance tutor in History and as an independent tour guide.
I was received into the Church in 2005 and am a Brother of the External Oratory of St Philip Neri at the Oxford Oratory.

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Monday, 1 September 2014

September

The
painting is attributed to Paul Limbourg and, in part, to the later
painter who worked on the manuscript in the 1480s, Jean Colombe.

September
is the time of the grape harvest. Five people gather the grapes whilst
another man, who looks to be sampling the vine crop, and a woman,
apparently pregnant and perhaps stretching after bending to gather the
grapes, watch them. The bunches of grapes are put first into baskets and
than transferred to paniers which are borne by mules. The paniers are
then loaded into larger whicker containers on carts drawn by oxen,
presumably to the winepress linked to the château of Saumur in Anjou
which forms the backdrop to the scene.The towers are decorated with gilt
fleurs de lys, similar to the details shown on English castles in sixteenth century survey drawings for the Duchy of Lancaster.

Once
again in the Limbourg's scenes there is the sense of peace and
tranquility, of plenty and a confident enjoyment of the good things of
life.

Anjou
is still a wine producing region and, unlike some others of the Duc be
Berry's residences, the castle is still excellently preserved as can be
seen at the link Château de Saumur. The survival of the château
and of parts of other ducal residences confirm the accuracy of the depictions by the
Limbourgs. Even if allowance is made for elements of idealisation in the
warm sunlight
of the artists' creation, and recalling that France in these years of
1412-16 was a very troubled realm, this is nonetheless confirmation of
the medieval castle as primarily an aristocratic residence rising out of
its agricultural base. Saumur may well be a fortification of
considerable strength, but the message conveyed by the artist, and that
expected by the patron, is peaceful.